Hauling Water--WINTER Style
According to various news reports from around the state, 3 different groundhogs did not see their shadow on Groundhog’s Day and independently predicted the arrival of an early spring. However, the latest polar airmass to descend on Emerald Acres during the 6th week of the year brought with it a stark reminder that winter will still be here for another 6 weeks...
 Family sledding day around the property! |  Farmgirl enjoying a sled ride before the next cold front descended on the farm. |
Following a beautiful weekend jam-packed with sledding and skiing around the property, candlelight hiking at Whitefish Dunes State Park and ice skating on the local outdoor rink, temperatures plunged once again and the mercury dropped below 0 F. Windchills blew into the eyelash freezing, nostril pinching, frost-biting zone. In the farmyard, water buckets froze, so we hauled more hot water. We kept hay (for the goats) and grain (for the chickens) feeders full. Eggs froze,then cracked.
Hauling water--WINTER style!! 5 gallon buckets at a time, in a sled, across the snow, against the wind, 2 times a day!
As we farm, we learn to take advantage of opportunities as they present themselves. We knew that the goats would not want to spend much time outdoors during the latest cold snap, so we decided to separate our junior does from their moms to help them fully wean.
Mother-daughter bonds, like that shown here between our Nigerian dwarf goat Lizzy and her doeling, Gaia, are strong, and we believe those bonds contribute toward raising healthy goats.
We dam-raise (in other words, let the moms feed and raise their kids) goat babies born on our farm because we feel it affords the goat kids the best possible nutrition and lessons on how to ‘just be a goat.’ Goat moms usually start to naturally wean their kids, if not forced to do so earlier, when the kids are about 6 months old, give or take. Our junior does range in age from about 7-9 months and were nearly weaned already so it was not a difficult transition for them. The goat moms will be able to rest for a while before they give birth to new kids this year.
A rather uneventful and extremely cold week afforded us time to work around the house and attend to some paperwork (ugh, taxes….). We also started to gear up for planting in the near future! Below are some rich dishes we cooked up this week to keep us warm.
A rather uneventful and extremely cold week afforded us time to work around the house and attend to some paperwork (ugh, taxes….). We also started to gear up for planting in the near future! Below are some rich dishes we cooked up this week to keep us warm.
 Giblets from our fall-raised pastured chickents with storage garlic and soy sauce--we keep trying out new recipes. Might hold on to this one! |  This hearty bone soup packed a punch of vitamins and nutrients! We used several storage vegetables from our garden including rutabaga, carrots, onions and potatoes. |
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